European Leaders Vow to Support Banks

As the world continues to grapple with the financial crisis, four European leaders vowed to keep the continent's banks from going under, according to a published media report.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy met Saturday with leaders from Germany, the U.K. and Italy. They were joined by the European Central Bank governor and the president of the European Commission.

The leaders agreed that countries in the European Union should not let any bank fail, according to a report published Saturday on The Wall Street Journal's Web site.

"We are taking a solemn commitment to back banking and financial institutions," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a press conference following the meeting, according to the report.

It's not clear, though, how European governments will coordinate their actions, particularly in cases where banks have operations that cross borders, the report said. The leaders said each country would be responsible for dealing with problems within its own banking system but will keep its neighbors informed, the report added.

The global credit crisis has forced European governments to come to the rescue of financial institutions in recent days. On Friday, the Netherlands took over the Dutch operations of Fortis, the struggling Dutch-Belgian bank. Earlier this week, the U.K. nationalized failing mortgage lender Bradford & Bingley, and France and Belgium injected 6.4 billion euros ($8.84 billion) into troubled bank Dexia.